


In the Dead of Night

by positronic



Series: Ironhusbands Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Dorks in Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Late Night Conversations, M/M, MIT Era, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25366876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/positronic/pseuds/positronic
Summary: “I’d climb in there with you but I think it’d collapse,” Rhodey said, his voice was rough from the small amount of sleep he had gotten.Tony turned his head and smirked at Rhodey, eyes slightly bleary.“Do you wanna hear how much weight this thing can actually hold? I already calculated it. That’s how I knew it’d hold me, obviously.”Rhodey rolled his eyes but couldn’t hold back a grin.--Written for Ironhusbands Bingo square I3 - Treehouse.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: Ironhusbands Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1838683
Comments: 8
Kudos: 107
Collections: Ironhusbands Bingo 2020





	In the Dead of Night

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the 2020 IronHusbands bingo (card 2009). Thanks so much to NightOwl172 for the beta!
> 
> As for the timeline, Tony is 19 and Rhodey is 21 (I think...). Also, even though I've never been, I tried my best to get aspects of typical housing in Philly right. I took a quick Google Earth trip through some of it and tried to be vague, so please forgive me if anything is wildly off.

The bright glare of the alarm clock told Rhodey that it was nearing one in the morning, and the space on the bed next to him was still empty. He reached out an arm to feel along the sheets but the slight chill of them told him Tony hadn’t even tried to come to bed yet. Rhodey sighed, kept his eyes closed for another moment, then pushed himself up on an elbow. 

After years of trying, he had finally convinced Tony to come home with him for the Thanksgiving holiday; the last few hours had been full of endless streams of food and conversation. By the end of it, Tony had looked more than a little overwhelmed, not just by the amount of food Rhodey’s family had served, but also by the grilling and genuine interest in his life. Once dessert had been served, Roberta had pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead and Rhodey had seen his wobbly smile and flushed cheeks, as much as he tried to hide it. 

Once the dishes had been cleaned and leftovers put away, Rhodey had nearly collapsed into bed, full and exhausted; he had felt guilty about leaving Tony downstairs, but Tony had given him a genuine smile and brushed it off, insisting that he was going to be up for a while longer anyway.

It had obviously been longer than a while, and Rhodey was slowly growing more concerned as the remnant of sleep faded away. Rhodey looked off the side of the bed, to the blow up mattress his parents had set up for Tony under the assumption he would be sleeping there, but Tony wasn’t there either. Rhodey furrowed his eyebrows and sat up fully, swinging his legs off the bed and grabbing his jacket off his desk chair as he made his way toward the door. 

The house was quiet and cool, the draftiness of the old house making Rhodey shiver as he walked past the other rooms upstairs. After checking the upstairs bathroom, which had been empty, Rhodey tiptoed down the stairs, pulling his jacket around himself. 

Most of the lights were off downstairs except for the one light over the kitchen table, where Rhodey had left Tony hours earlier. The table had been cleaned off except for a few crumbs of pie crust, likely left from Tony sneaking a second slice of pie after everyone had gone to bed, and there was still no sign of Tony. 

Rhodey stared down at the table for a moment, fingers wrapping around the top of one of the chairs unconsciously, then he looked out the kitchen window and into the backyard. The back door was left unlocked, and Rhodey sighed quietly.

Of course. 

He zipped up this jacket and put the hood on to block himself from the chill, and slipped out the door and into the backyard. 

The backyard was barely even that. It was only a few square feet of space lit up by a single wall lamp; half of the space was a patio made of concrete, but it was more than a lot of people had on this side of Philly. The other half was mainly dirt with a patch of grass here and there, and a small, pathetic attempt of a tree in the far corner. 

Attached to the tree was a treehouse, of sorts, made of wood and standing a few feet off the ground. The tree helped support it in one corner and the others were held up by wooden poles. 

As a kid, Rhodey had always wanted a treehouse, but it had always been more of a dream than anything due to the lack of suitable space and the extra funds. He had mentioned it only a few times and instead tried to get his fix of the school playground during recess in elementary school. 

Then, for Rhodey’s 8th birthday, his dad had surprised him by building this for Rhodey and his sister. It wasn’t much, and could only really hold one person at a time, but Rhodey had loved it. Jeannie hadn’t spent as much time in it, but Rhodey had taken full advantage; every afternoon, he had climbed up there once his homework was done, and refused to come down until dinner, lost in the depths of his imagination. 

Years later, and the structure was still there. Rhodey probably couldn’t fit in it anymore, and hadn’t been home enough to think about trying, and Jeannie had long since grown out of it too. But it was still there. 

Rhodey had shown it to Tony the day they first arrived in Philly from Cambridge, and Tony had had this pinched look on his face, a mix of emotions that Rhodey couldn’t even begin to interpret. He had shaken it off quickly, teasingly calling Rhodey a nerd, to which he responded by wrapping an arm around Tony’s neck and ruffling his hair. 

Rhodey shut the back door softly behind him and walked over to the treehouse. Tony had obviously managed to climb inside of the small structure, his body small despite being nineteen now; his feet were toward the far end of it, his head by the open doorway next to the ladder. The ladder was only four feet or so above the ground, and Rhodey was able to rest his arms on it, staring at the side of Tony’s head. 

Tony hadn’t given any indication that he heard Rhodey approaching, still staring up at the wood ceiling. He was wrapped up in the blanket from the back of the couch with it pulled tightly around his neck; his expression was largely blank, but Rhodey knew his thoughts were racing. 

There was a bottle of scotch next to Tony, obviously from Rhodey’s father’s collection. 

The seal on it was unbroken.

Rhodey stared at it sadly for a moment, but decided against bringing it up.

“I’d climb in there with you but I think it’d collapse,” Rhodey said, his voice was rough from the small amount of sleep he had gotten.

Tony turned his head and smirked at Rhodey, eyes slightly bleary.

“Do you wanna hear how much weight this thing can actually hold? I already calculated it. That’s how I knew it’d hold me, obviously.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes but couldn’t hold back a grin. 

“You’re insufferable.”

“Yeah, yeah. You love me anyway.”

Rhodey could practically feel his heart melting at that, fondness for Tony rolling over him in waves. They had been inseparable the past few years baring semester breaks, and the fact that Rhodey got to spend this one with Tony made him beyond happy. 

“I do.”

Tony swallowed thickly and looked back up to the ceiling. 

“Your family is great,” he said, still keeping his gaze away from Rhodey’s. His voice was carefully neutral, but Rhodey could hear everything unsaid in it. Rhodey’s heart clenched in his chest, and he ached to hold Tony close, but it was impossible in the positions they were in. 

“They love having you here,” Rhodey said, then couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and running his fingers through Tony’s hair. “I’m really happy you came this year, Tony. It means a lot to me.”

That got Tony to look back to him, his eyes were shimmering in the faint light from the yard light. His grin was fragile, and Rhodey’s hand moved to cup Tony’s jaw, thumb rubbing over Tony’s cheek gently. 

It seemed that Tony couldn’t bring himself to respond, and Rhodey didn’t try to prompt him any more. 

“Come on, let’s get you to bed. It’s cold out here,” Rhodey said, nudging at the lump of Tony’s body underneath the blanket.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s plenty warm. You’re the one who didn’t bring a blanket with you, like a pleb,” Tony grumbled, but sat up anyway, and started scooching his way out of the treehouse. 

Rhodey rolled his eyes and helped Tony out of the structure, leaving the bottle of scotch behind. He’d get it in the morning. The last thing he wanted was to bring Tony’s attention back to it, leaving him to get lost in his own head again. 

Once they were back in the house, they collapsed back onto Rhodey’s bed. Rhodey was lying on his side, and Tony was curled up in front of him, his face pressed into Rhodey’s chest and arm thrown around Rhodey’s waist. 

They hadn’t said anything more, just letting the silence between them be, letting actions speak for themselves. 

Just as Rhodey could feel sleep pulling at him again, his eyes growing heavy, he heard Tony mumble into his shirt.

“I love you, Jim,” he said, fingertips dancing along the skin of Rhodey’s back.

Rhodey grinned sleepily and tilted his head down, pressing a kiss to Tony’s head. 

Tony went stiff for a moment, obviously not expecting Rhodey to still be awake, but after a moment he went completely lax, burrowing further into Rhodey’s chest. 


End file.
